Learning a Second Language

    Some people learn a second language easily. Others have trouble learning a new language. How can you help yourself learn a new language, such as English? There are several ways to make learning English a little easier and more interesting.

    The first step is to feel positive about learning English. If you believe that you can learn, you will learn. Be patient. You do not have to understand everything all at once. It is natural to make mistakes when you learn something new. We can learn from our mistakes. In other words, do not worry about taking risks.

    The second step is to practice your English. For example, write a diary every day. You will get used to writing it in English, and you will feel comfortable expressing your ideas in English. Several weeks later, you will see that your writing is improving. In addition, you must speak English every day. You can practice with your classmates outside class. You will all make mistakes, but gradually you will become comfortable communicating in English.

    The third step is to keep a record of your language learning. You can write this in your journal. After each class, think about what you did. Did you answer a question correctly? Did you understand something the teacher explained? Perhaps the lesson was difficult, but you tried to understand it.

    You must be positive about learning English and believe that you can do it. It is important to practice every day and make a record of your achievements. You will enjoy learning English, and you will feel more confident in yourself.

    Derek Rabclo is not the only surfer to conquer Hawaii' s famous Pipeline big wave break, but while all others use their sight to do it, this young professional surfer must rely only on his other senses. That's because he is completely blind.

    When Derek was born, over 24 years ago, he got his name from Derek Ho, the first Hawaiian surfing world champion. A surfing enthusiast himself, Emesto dreamed that his son would share the talent of his uncle, a professional surfer. Unfortunately, Derek was born completely blind, but this didn't slop his family from believing lhat he could do anything he wanted, even if that meant becoming a surfer.

    At age 2, Derek received a bodyboard and the beaches of Guarapari, Brazil, became his backyard. He was always comfortable in the water and surfing was in his blood, but he didn't actually try riding a wave until he turned 17, when his father bought him a surfboard. His father taught him the basics and encouraged him to keep practicing, but after successfully standing up on the surfboard, Derek knew he needed to become much better if he was going to achieve Emesto's dream and become a professional surfer. So he joined the Praia do Moroo surf school, where he studied under coach Fabio Maru.

    Standing up on a surfboard and conquering small waves is one thing, while gathering the courage to take on Hawaii's board-breaking Pipeline is another. But that's exactly what Derek Rabelo set out to do just months after learning how to surf. Everyone told him it was too dangerous, but he felt he could do it. And he did, earning the praise of famous professional surfers like Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning. Now 24, Rabelo has been surfing the Pipeline every winter since.

Empathy

    Last year, researchers from the University of Michigan reported that empathy, the ability to understand other people, among college students had dropped a lot over the past 10 years. That could be because so many people have replaced face time with screen time, the researchers said. Today, people spend more time alone and seldom join groups and clubs.

    Jennifer Freed, a director of a teen program, has another explanation. on the TV, and you're showered with news and reality shows full of people fighting, competing, and generally treating one another with no respect(尊重).  Humans learn by example—and most of the examples on it are anything but empathetic.

    There are good reasons not to follow those bad examples. Humans are socially connected with nature. Having relationships with other people is an important part of being human—and having empathy is important to those relationships. Researchers have also found that empathetic teenagers always have high self-respect. Besides, empathy can be helpful for loneliness, sadness, anxiety, and fear.

    Empathy is also necessary for a good leader. In fact, Freed says, many top companies report that empathy is one the most important things they look for in new managers. Social skills—including empathy—are a kind of “emotional(情感的) intelligence" that will help you succeed in many areas of life. “Tests results are important. But if you don't have emotional intelligence, you won't be as successful in work or in your love life,” she says.

    What's the best way to up your EQ(情商)? For starters, let down your guard and really listen to others. “One doesn't develop empathy by having a lot of opinions and doing a lot of talking,” Freed says. To really develop empathy, you'd better volunteer at a nursing home or a hospital, join a club or a team that has a diverse membership, have a “sharing circle” with your family, or spend time caring for pets at an animal shelter.

    We often just use our sense of sight, touch, smell, and taste to eat food. But what about our sense of hearing? Does sound also affect our dining experience?

    A new report answers, “yes, it does.”

    That answer comes from researchers at Brigham Young University and Colorado State University in the United States. They found that hearing is important in the eating experience.

    Hearing is often called “the forgotten food sense”, says Ryan Elder. Elder is an assistant professor of marketing at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management. He says that if people notice the sound the food makes as they eat it, they might eat less. On the other hand, watching loud television or listening to loud music while eating can hide such noises. And this could lead to overeating.

    For the study, the researchers wanted to test whether the sounds of eating—chewing, chomping and crunching—had any effect on how much a person ate. During the experiments, the test subjects wore headphones and listened to noise at either a high or low audio level. Then researchers gave them a crunchy snack: pretzels. The study found that subjects who listened to the higher volume noise ate more pretzels than those with the low audio levels.

    Elder says that when hiding I heard sounds of eating, like when you watch television or listen to loud music while eating, we take away the sense of hearing. And this may cause you to eat more than you would normally. The researchers are calling this, the “crunch effect”.

    The researchers admit that the effects may not seem like much at one meal. But over a week, a month or a year, all that food can really add up.

    A group of scientists is gathering today in the U. K. to discuss a thick piece of ice that's cracking in Antarctica, which is of the size of Delaware.

    The ice shelf is called Larsen C, and it now has a 90-mile crack running through it. The big rift (裂缝) is slicing the ice shelf from top to bottom. But this is not just another sad climate change story. It's more complicated. "A lot of things are going on deep inside the ice," says Adrian Luckman, a glaciologist.

    Luckman says climate change is certainly influencing this region. Larsen C used to have two neighbors to the north, Larsen A and Larsen B. As the air and water warmed, those ice shelves started melting and then disappeared in 1995 and 2002. But the crack in Larsen C seems to have happened on its own, for different reasons.

    Larsen C has many cracks. All ice shelves do. This particular crack has been around since at least the 1960s. The unusual part is that in 2014, this crack — and only this crack — started growing quickly. Why?

    "Well, that is a little bit of a mystery and that's why it drew itself to our attention," says Luckman. One puzzling aspect is how it managed to cut through areas of softer ice that bind (连接) the ice from neighboring glaciers into one giant sheet. Starting in 2014, that soft ice did very little to slow down this rift.

    Scientists are split on how important this crack is for the stability of the whole ice shelf. Some say if this giant section breaks off, it won't make a difference. Others disagree.

    "Ice shelves are the gates of Antarctica in a way, and the gatekeepers of Antarctica. The ice shelves are already floating, so if they fall apart it does not immediately affect sea levels. It's what they hold back -water from all the inland glaciers — that could be problematic. If all the water packed in those glaciers made their way to the sea, it could significantly raise global sea levels," says Ala Khazendar, a geophysicist.

    I was ten when my father first sent me flowers. I had been taking ballet lessons for four months, and the school was giving its yearly performance. As a member of the beginners' chorus group, I was surprised to hear my name called out at the end of the show along with the leading dancers and to find my arms full of red roses. I can still feel myself standing on that stage, seeing my father's big smiles.

    Those roses were the first of many bunches accompanying all the milestones in my life. Getting all those roses was wonderful, but they brought a sense of embarrassment. I enjoyed them, but I also felt they were too much for my small achievements.

    Not for my father. He did everything in a big way. Once, when mother told him I needed a new party dress, he brought home a dozen. His behavior often left us without money for other more important things. Sometimes I would be angry with him.

    Then came my 16th birthday. It was not a happy occasion. I was fat and had no boyfriend. And my well-meaning father furthered my suffering by giving me a party. As I entered the dining room, there on the table next to my cake was a huge bunch of flowers, bigger than any before.

    I wanted to hide. Now everyone would think my father had sent flowers because I had no boyfriend to do it. Sweet 16, and I felt like crying. But my best friend, Jenny, whispered, "Boy, you're lucky to have a father like that."

    As the years passed, other occasions—birthdays, awards, graduations—were marked with Dad's flowers. Those flowers symbolized his pride, and my success. As my fortunes grew, my father's health became worse, but his gifts of flowers continued until he died. I covered his coffin with the largest, reddest roses I could find.

    Often during the dozen years since, I felt an urge to buy a big bunch to fill the living room, but I never did. I knew it would not be the same.

    Then one birthday, the doorbell rang. I was feeling blue because I was alone. My husband and my two daughters were away. My 10-year-old son, Tommy, had run out earlier with a "see you later". So I was surprised to see Tommy at the door. "Forgot my key," he said. "Forgot your birthday too." He pulled a bunch of roses from behind his back.

    "Oh, Tommy," I cried. "I love flowers!"